Five
by Duffy1972
Summary: MH FanFic #3: A heartwarming and humorous story about C.J.'s fifth birthday party, and the first time she meets Matt. Most characters are original, but some are borrowed for fun.
1. Chapter 1

"So, Cady, have you given any thought to who you'd want at your birthday party? It's next Saturday, you know?" Roger asked nonchalantly with a smile, behind his morning paper.

Cady finished crunching her Corn Flakes. "I don't know, Daddy. Def'nitely Julia."

Roger put down his paper. "Well, I figured that. You two are inseparable." Julia Martin moved, with her family, next door to the Parsons on Richmond Avenue when she was one year old and became friends with Cady at their mutual age of three. "Is there anyone else?"

"Daddy, I just started kinnergarden. I don't know anyone at school yet," she said in an exasperated tone.

"It doesn't have to be anyone from school. Don't you have some more neighborhood friends you'd like to invite?"

She kept munching her cereal with a thoughtful look on her face, her dark brown waves of hair framing her face, which was illuminated by her bright hazel eyes. "I don't know, Daddy. Where's Momma?"

"She's working the early shift at the hospital. What about Betty Lou Montgomery?" he asked.

"Oh Daddy, she's a cry-baby," she replied, putting her spoon down.

"Cady, that's not very nice. Some people are just more emotional," he replied.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Cady replied, always sensitive to his disappointment.

"Why don't you invite her because it would be the nice thing to do?" he said.

"Okay, Daddy," she said with a frown.

"Both sets of grandparents will be there," he said with a smile.

"Poppa and Mawmaw! Gramma and Grampa!" she exclaimed with enthusiasm.

"I knew you'd be excited. We haven't seen any of them in a while," he replied.

"I thought of some friends from the neighborhood, Daddy - Charlie and Steven," she said.

"Oh, you want some boys at the party?" he asked with a smirk.

"Daddy! What diff'rence does that make?" she said with her hands on her hips and a flash in her eyes.

"You're right. You're right," he said, holding out both hands. "I'm sorry. I'm sure they're both nice boys," he said.

"They are, Daddy. They're a lot of fun," she said.

"Okay, okay," he replied. "Oh yeah, your Uncle Robert and Aunt Janice are coming with your cousin Dorothy too."

"Yea!" she exclaimed and jumped up from her chair.

Roger looked at the clock. "Okay, Cady. You better get your things ready for school. I'm taking you to the bus stop today," he said. Roger had started his own private law practice over the summer after adding another room with a separate entrance for clients. Since starting his private practice, he was able to walk Cady to school, and mostly did so when Cynthia worked the morning shift at the hospital.

Cady ran down the hall to her bedroom, while Roger cleaned up her spot at the table. Minutes later, she emerged with her satchel, teeming with enthusiasm for school. "I'm ready!" she declared.

"I'm just about finished rinsing these dishes," he said. After he finished, he took her hand and the two left the house. They walked about two blocks down and stood and waited for the school bus that went to Barrick Elementary School.

"What are you learning in school right now?" Roger asked.

"Nothing," she said.

"Nothing?" he asked.

"I already know what we're learning," she said.

"Oh?" he asked.

"ABC's. Some short words. You know," she replied.

"Ah. Well, that's probably because your mother and I spent a great deal of time giving you a head start," he replied. "You're going to have to challenge yourself."

"Okay, Daddy," she said, looking at her feet which she moved back and forth in the dirt. "We have a classroom pet."

"You do? What kind?" he asked.

"A guinea pig," she replied. "He's cute."

"I'm sure he is," he said.

"Did you know that they're food in Peru?" she asked.

Roger showed some combination of surprise and disgust on his face. "No, I did not know that," he replied. "Where did you learn that?"

"In the 'cyclopedia in the den," she said.

"Oh," he said. "Money well spent," he muttered under his breath. Just then, the school bus rounded the corner and pulled up to the pair. Roger knelt down and adjusted the collar on Cady's dress and patted the top of her head.

"You have a good day at school today, sweetie," he said, as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Daddy," she said, looking at the bus. "The bus driver is waiting. I better go."

"Love you," he said.

"Love you too, Daddy," she said as she ran up to the bus.

Roger waved at Cady as the bus pulled away and he walked back to their house to prepare for his 9 O'clock meeting with a client. Bill Houston had led several clients his way when he initially started his practice, to give him a boost. Roger was mostly handling divorces, wills, business acquisitions and incorporation, and drawing up mortgages and contracts of all kinds. Sometimes he took civil litigation cases, though only ones he believed in, unlike when he worked for Hermann Hospital where Cynthia continued to work as an internal medicine specialist.

Roger's first few clients of the day were, in order, a copyright infringement, a patent violation, and the creation of a trust fund. He had a lunch meeting at the Barbecue Inn that day with Joe Spinelli, who wanted advice on selling his kitchen appliance business, and help with any documents needed to meet that end. Roger left his home office at 11:30 and arrived at the Barbecue Inn at about 11:55. He took a seat and ordered some sweet tea while he waited. Minutes later, Spinelli showed up. "Sorry I'm a little late. I had a phone call from my wife and it went a little long. I'm sure you know what I mean," he said cryptically.

Roger didn't know what he meant. "That's alright. You're not that late."

Spinelli looked at his watch, and said, "Oh, good. What's good to eat?"

"All of it," Roger said.

"What are you having?" Spinelli asked.

"Probably the Barbecue Pork Sandwich," he said.

Spinelli looked the menu over. "I think I'll just have the fried chicken."

The two men made small talk until the waitress arrived and they placed their orders. Spinelli was having second thoughts about selling his business, so Roger helped him weigh the options, pros, and cons.

"I want to retire, but I don't know what I'll do with myself," Spinelli said.

"You might find that there's more to do. A lot of people do," Roger replied.

"I don't know. I've been doing retail so long, it's all I know. It's eaten up so much of my time, I never have developed interests outside of work," Spinelli said.

"That can be problematic, or you can see it as an opportunity to try a whole bunch of new things," Roger replied.

"There's also the fact that these new-fangled appliances are quite lucrative these days. Maybe I'm just hitting my stride," Spinelli said.

"Perhaps," Roger replied.

"I don't know. I feel like I should think about this some more," Spinelli said.

"It's your business. You should do what you want. I can draw up papers for the sale anytime," Roger said.

"Thanks Roger," Spinelli said. "It's good to have someone to bounce all this stuff off of."

"No problem," Roger replied.

A voice came from Roger's left. "Hello Roger."

"Oh, hi, Bill. What are you doing here?"

"A lunch meeting." Bill Houston extended his hand to Joe Spinelli. "Bill Houston."

Spinelli shook his hand, "Joe Spinelli."

"Nice to meet you," Bill said. Spinelli nodded.

"Thanks for sending that client to me last week, Bill," Roger said.

"Glad I can help," Bill replied. "I hope you've been keeping busy in your new practice."

"I have. Word of mouth is starting to have some effect, I think," Roger replied.

"Well, you're an excellent and very professional attorney," Bill replied. He turned to Spinelli. "You've made a great choice."

"I had a feeling," Spinelli replied.

"What have you been up to, Bill?" Roger asked.

"The usual. I'm more involved in petrochemicals and plastics these days. Of course, my priority is raising Mattlock," he said.

"Of course," Roger agreed.

"He's quite the handful these days," Bill said. "How's your girl?"

"She's great. She says the funniest things," Roger said.

"Mattlock does too. They certainly are more interesting, or at least entertaining, at this age," Bill said.

"I just had a thought. Cady is having her fifth birthday party next Saturday and maybe you can come and bring Mattlock. Our family will be there with some neighborhood children. There will be boys Mattlock's age there too," Roger said.

"That's a kind offer," Bill said and thought to himself briefly. "I don't have anything planned for that day. I think I'll take you up on that. Just call my office and give me the particulars when you have them."

"Okay. Will do," Roger replied.

"Well, I'm sure Mr. Spinelli here doesn't want me using up more of his valuable time with you, so I'll leave you two to your business. Thanks again for the invitation," Bill said. He extended his hand to Roger first and then Spinelli, "Have a good day, Mr. Spinelli."

"Thanks," Spinelli said. Bill walked over to his table leaving the two men to their lunch meeting. "Was that Bill Houston of Houston Oil?"

"The one and only," Roger said.

"How do you know him?" Spinelli asked.

"It's a long story," Roger replied vaguely.

"It must be," Spinelli said.

Roger and Spinelli got their lunches and after eating, concluded their business together for the day. Roger went back to his office to meet another client before Cady came home from school. The client was interested in a standard Last Will and Testament, so it was an uncomplicated case. He left the house around 2:15 to meet Cady at the bus stop. Eventually the bus arrived and Cady stepped off and ran up and hugged Roger.

Roger hugged back. "Oh, thanks sweetie. How was your day?"

"Awful!" she replied, with tears welling in her eyes.

"Awful? What happened?" he asked.

She said through sobs, "The teacher kept asking questions, and I kept answering because no one else was."

"And?"

"Almost everyone made fun of me at recess. They called me 'teacher's pet,'" she said.

"Well, calm down, now. They're just jealous. You're very smart," he said.

"It just makes me sad, Daddy," she said.

"I know, sweetie. We can talk with your mother about it when she gets home," he said in a calming tone.

Roger scooped her up and held her in his right arm and carried her satchel in his left hand. He carried her back to the house with her arms around his neck.

"Why don't you get out of your school clothes, and then I'll look over your homework with you. Your mother should be home soon."

Cady came out of her room in a white short-sleeved shirt with a collar edged in lace, and in the boys' plaid pants Cynthia had bought her at her request. Just then, Cynthia came home. Cady saw her come through the front door.

"Momma!" she exclaimed and ran to greet her.

Cynthia hugged Cady and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"How was your day, Cindy?" Roger called from the kitchen.

"Exhausting. Yours?" she called back.

"Well, I wouldn't say that it was exhausting," he said. "Ran into Bill Houston today."

"Oh?" she said.

"Yeah," Roger said coming into the living room. "Cady, I put a snack on the table for you in the kitchen. Your satchel is in there too," he said.

"Thanks Daddy," she said, and walked into the kitchen.

Roger waited for Cady to be out of earshot. "The other kids made fun of Cady today," he said.

"Oh?" Cynthia said with an edge to her voice.

"Apparently being the smart one in class has already drawn her the moniker, 'Teacher's Pet," he said.

"Ah, well, it was only a matter of time. I guess one of us should go up and talk to her teacher," she said.

"I can do that," Roger said. "Maybe get her teacher to give her some more challenging assignments in the meantime. Cady seems bored."

"She probably is. I'll talk to her at bedtime tonight about how to handle her classmates," she replied.

"Okay," Roger replied. Then, he grabbed Cynthia and held her tight and gave her a sensual kiss at the same time Cady came out of the kitchen.

"Daddy! Momma! Ewww!" she said, and turned on her heels and went right back into the kitchen while Roger and Cynthia smiled at each other.

The three sat down for dinner by early evening.

"Cady wants Julia, Betty Lou, Steven, and Charlie to be guests at her birthday party next Saturday," Roger said.

"Oh? Betty Lou, huh?" Cynthia said.

"Daddy said I should," Cady said with some consternation on her face.

Cynthia looked reticently at Roger and then back at Cady. "Daddy's right."

"Uh-huh," Cady said, unconvinced.

"Cady, I wanted to let you know that I invited a friend of mine and his son who's your age. I figured it would be okay since there'd be other boys there," Roger said.

"That's okay, Daddy," Cady said.

"Is that what you talked to Bill about today?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah. He ran into me with a client at lunch and I thought I'd invite him since he's been sending clients my way," said Roger.

"It's okay with Cady, and it's her birthday, so it's okay with me," she said smiling at Cady who was eating her dinner.

"Cady, what do you think you'll want for lunch on your birthday?" Roger asked.

She yelled, "Pizza!"

"I don't know why you even had to ask, Roger," Cynthia said.

"I just like to hear her yell 'pizza,'" Roger said with a smile. "What about for dessert? What kind of birthday cake?" Roger asked.

"Mawmaw's coming. Maybe Momma can make her German Choc'late Cake," Cady said.

"That's a good idea, Cady," Cynthia said. "She'd love that."

"Just chocolate ice cream to go with it, then," Cady continued.

"That's a lot of chocolate in one place. Are you sure, Cady?" Roger asked.

"Daddy, everybody loves chocolate," she said, without a hint of doubt.

"You're right," he said, and winked at Cynthia.

The family finished dinner and Cady helped clean off the table and Roger and Cynthia cleaned the dishes.

"Did you finish your homework?" Roger asked.

"Yes, Daddy. Can I watch Kukla, Fran, and Ollie before bedtime?"

"Let me check your homework first," Cynthia said. Cady handed Cynthia her homework.

"Wow. You're right, Roger. This just isn't that challenging," Cynthia said. She turned to Cady. "Are you bored in school, honey?"

"Uh-huh," Cady said hesitantly.

"Your dad is going to talk to your teacher about giving you something a little extra or something more challenging, okay?" she said.

"Okay, Momma. Can I watch the show now?" Cady asked.

"Sure, but we're going to do some more reading before bedtime, too," she said.

"Okay, Momma," Cady said, running out of the kitchen into the living room to turn on the television.

When Cady went to bed, Cynthia talked to her about her classmates picking on her and the usual 'sticks and stones' speech that parents give their children. She told her that the other kids were jealous and perhaps she should just let some of the other students answer the questions or even let there be silence from the class at times, if necessary. And that whether or not the other kids answered questions was the teacher's problem and not hers. Then they took turns reading paragraphs in The Little Bookroom, a collection of short stories for children by Eleanor Farjeon, with Cynthia helping Cady with the harder words. Cynthia kissed Cady goodnight after they finished reading.

"I love you, Cady," Cynthia said.

"I love you, Momma," Cady replied.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the day before Cady's birthday party, Friday, September 30, and Roger had gone to the party supply store after Cynthia had gotten home from work. When he returned home, he kicked the front door with his foot since his hands were full. Cynthia came to the door.

"Good grief, Roger! Did you clean the place out?" she said, reaching out to take some things out of his hands.

Cady came running from her bedroom. "What did you get, Daddy?"

"Just a minute, Cady," he said as he put a couple of bags down on the coffee table.

Cady wriggled with excitement. Cynthia pulled out rolls of streamers and small bags of balloons.

"I got some decorations, as your mother has discovered, and some games for the party," Roger said.

"What games?" Cady asked.

"Well, let's see….I got this _Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey_ game and this..." he paused for dramatic effect, "piñata!"

"Oooooh, Daddy. Fun!"

"What are these for?" Cynthia asked holding up a jar and some clothespins.

"That's for the Clothespin Drop game," Roger said.

"Roger, it's the 1950s, not the 1920s. Kids require a little more stimulation these days," she replied. "And what are the _Tootsie Rolls_ for?"

"A _Tootsie Roll_ hunt. The woman at the store assured me everyone's doing it at birthday parties these days," he replied.

"Sounds like we're going to have a full day," Cynthia said, tucking her dark hair behind her ear.

"I figured there'd be a game of _Musical Chairs_, too," he replied.

"Whew! Cady, do you think you can handle all that fun in one day?" Cynthia asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes, Momma!" Cady declared.

"Let's hope your Daddy and I can keep up," Cynthia said, patting Cady on the back.

"Can I have some _Tootsie Rolls_ now?" Cady asked.

"No way, young lady. Dinner's almost ready," Cynthia replied. "Why don't you come in the kitchen with me, and we'll get everything ready while Daddy puts all this stuff up for the time being," she said, looking at Roger with a smile on her face.

Roger packed up the party goods and placed them in a corner of the living room behind a chair while Cynthia and Cady readied dinner. Soon, all sat down to eat and plan the party.

"So, what I was thinking, is that you and Cady can decorate for the party early tomorrow morning," Cynthia said.

"Yea!" Cady exclaimed.

"I think we can handle that," Roger said, squeezing Cady's arm gently. She smiled back at him.

"The grandparents and aunt and uncle will all be arriving in the morning," Cynthia said.

"Dorothy?!" Cady asked.

"Don't worry, she'll be there," Cynthia replied.

"Before I forget, the picnic tables I rented will be delivered tomorrow morning too," Roger said.

"Good," Cynthia said. "I'll call in the pizza order in the morning if you'll go pick it up before noon. I figured we'd eat first and then have games and finally, presents and dessert."

"Can do," Roger said.

"Charlie, Steven, Betty Lou, and Julia are definitely going to be here. Have you heard from Bill about him and Mattlock?"

"Yes. They're coming," Roger replied.

"Sounds like we have a party, then," Cynthia said.

Roger raised his hands and looked at Cady and yelled, "Yea!" which Cady gladly mirrored and echoed.

After dinner, the Parsons family wound down to _The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin_ and _The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet_ on television before Cady got a bath and had to go to bed. She practiced her reading with Cynthia, as always, before going to sleep.

The next morning, Cady bolted out of bed and ran into her parents' bedroom. "Time to decorate for the party!" she yelled after flopping on their bed. She had gotten dressed in her overalls, shirt, and canvas tennis shoes.

Roger yawned and looked at the alarm clock by the bed, "Cady, it's 6 a.m."

"We better get goin', Daddy!" she insisted.

Cynthia yawned and stretched, "Unfortunately, she's right, Roger. We've got a lot to do."

"Okay, okay," Roger said with another yawn, and got out of bed.

"I'm going to jump in the shower and then get to baking," Cynthia said.

"Cady, why don't you go wait for me in the kitchen while I get dressed, and I'll be in there in a few minutes," Roger said.

"Okay, Daddy!" she said, and skipped out of the room.

Roger rubbed his face and shook his head at Cynthia. She patted him on the shoulder. "Have fun, honey," she said.

Roger and Cady shared a quick breakfast in the kitchen while Cynthia was in the shower and afterward, he and Cady began decorating the house and the backyard. They started in the backyard with Roger holding Cady up in the air to start a spiral of red streamer around a tree. She duct taped the beginning of the streamer to the smooth bark of the tree. He circled her around the tree and she giddily wrapped it downward until it reached the ground. They decorated several trees in this manner before Roger, using a step ladder, ran twisted streamers of red and white connecting the same trees. Then they began blowing up balloons of red, white, and pink. Roger blew up the big round ones and the oblong ones while Cady took the smaller round balloons; however, she was only able to blow up a few in the end. He set her to the task of thumb tacking them to the trees decorated with streamers while he held her up again to do so.

After a while, the two came in through the back door to the kitchen where Cynthia was preparing the German chocolate Cake in the form of a giant sheet cake.

"Looks good, honey," Roger said, and kissed her on her cheek as he and Cady quickly passed her. "We're going to the front yard now."

On the way to the front door, there was a knock. Roger opened the door.

"Hi sir. Do you have an order for three picnic tables?" asked the husky man in blue overalls with a nametag that read 'Lou.'

Cady stood there holding Roger's hand when he said, "Yes. Just set them up around back. In between all the streamers."

"Yes, sir," he said.

"Thanks," Roger said. "C'mon, Cady. Let's decorate the porch first."

She watched the delivery man walk to his truck where another man was waiting. "Okay, Daddy," she said with a cautious tone.

The two decorated the porch with streamers and balloons and when they were finished, Roger asked, "What do you think we should do with these shrubs, Cady?"

"Throw the streamers at them!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that _would_ be fun, but we need to save some for the mailbox," he replied with a smile. "How about if we make a zig-zag pattern across a few of them?"

"Okay. You do that, Daddy," she said.

"I see. Getting tired? You've still got a whole day ahead of you," he said.

"No. I've just never done a zag pattern before," she said.

"I'll show you once and you can help me a second time. These two shrubs on either side of the porch should be fine," he said.

"Okay, Daddy," she said.

Roger demonstrated on one and then they did the other together.

"Okay, let's decorate the mailbox," he said.

"Sir?" a voice came from behind them.

"We're done with the tables. I need you to sign here," the delivery man said. He handed Roger a clipboard and looked down at Cady and smiled. Cady moved slightly behind Roger's leg.

"Do you need anything else?" Roger asked.

"No, sir. We'll be back Monday to pick up the tables.

"Thanks for your help," Roger said, and shook the delivery man's hand.

"You're welcome," he said, and got into his truck with his partner and drove away.

While Roger and Cady were decorating the mailbox, she said to him, "Daddy, I wanna be a lawyer like you when I grow up."

"Oh, you do, do you?" he replied.

"Yes," she said.

"And why's that?" he inquired.

"You're smart and you get to talk to a lot of people," she said.

"Well, it's a little more than that," he said, taping a balloon to the mailbox.

"You help people," she said.

"Momma helps people," he said. "You could be a doctor."

"Nah. She comes home sad from work sometimes," she said.

"You're right. She has to deal with difficult things some days," he said.

"She cries sometimes," she said.

"I know," he said. "Still, you don't know what you're going to be. You're just going to be five years old on Monday. There's plenty of time to decide. I know whatever you decide to do, you'll do well at it."

She shook her hood and crossed her arms. "Nope. I'm gonna be a lawyer," she said.

"If you say so," he said with a smile, as he put the remaining decorations in the paper bag he'd been carrying with them. Then, he scooped her up and carried her back into the house.

"How's the cake coming, Cindy?" Roger asked as they entered the kitchen. He put Cady down.

"Baking as we speak. I called the pizzeria. They'll have the pizzas ready by 11:30," she said.

"Good. Guess it's my turn to take a shower," he replied, and left to do so.

Cynthia turned to Cady, "You better get ready too, Cady."

"I'm already ready, Momma," she said.

"You're not wearing overalls at your birthday party," Cynthia said.

"Why not?" Cady asked.

"You should wear the pink dress your Gramma got you, since she's going to be here today," she said.

"I don't wanna, Momma," Cady replied.

"But you love that dress," Cynthia replied.

"But I can't play with the other kids if I wear it," Cady said.

"Oh, I see the problem," Cynthia said. "Don't worry about that. Go ahead and wear your pink pedal pushers underneath, and if they both get dirty, we can take them to the cleaners, okay?"

"Okay, Momma," Cady said and walked away dejected.

Cynthia called after her, "When you get back, bring your brush, and I'll fix your hair."

"Okay, Momma," Cady called back.

A few minutes later, Roger came out in his Saturday leisure best. He wore a light blue short-sleeve shirt with a standard collar and a single breast pocket with khaki slacks. "How do I look?" he asked Cynthia.

She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his athletic frame. "As handsome as the day I met you," she said and kissed him firmly on the lips, right before the oven timer dinged.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls…" he said.

Cynthia sighed. "It tolls for _me_," she said, pointing at herself. She let go of Roger and headed back into the kitchen. Cady emerged from her bedroom to the living room where Roger was standing.

"Well, look at you, Miss Cady Jo! You sure do look purty today," he said in his best exaggerated Texas accent.

"Daddy!" Cady said.

"What?" he said with a smirk. Cynthia emerged from the kitchen. "Yes, Cady, you look very pretty. You better get used to it. You take after me," she said, jokingly fluffing her hair and elbowing Roger.

"Momma…." Cady said with her arms akimbo. Roger left to go check on the cake.

"Okay, let me brush your hair. Come stand here," she said while sitting down on the couch and gesturing to the area between her knees. Cady stood still while Cynthia brushed and styled her dark wavy hair. "Do you want a ribbon in your hair?"

"No, Momma. Are you done yet?" she asked impatiently.

"Almost," she said. "There. Now turn around and look at me." Cady turned around and Cynthia made some final adjustments to her hair. "Good. Your grandparents should be here soon. Why don't you sit down and color or read, or something."

"Okay, Momma," Cady said.

"Cake looks great, Cindy," Roger said, coming back from the kitchen.

"Thanks. Guess I'll go back in there and whip up the German Chocolate icing," she said.

"Hopefully, Cady or I will get to lick the spoon?" Roger asked.

"You are two peas in a pod," Cynthia replied.

"Thanks, honey," he said and pecked her on the cheek. He then sat down in his chair in the living room and started to read the Saturday paper, while Cady colored in a coloring book with pictures of horses.

Roger called into the kitchen, "Hey Cynthia. We've both been so busy. Did you hear that James Dean was killed yesterday?"

Cynthia darted furtively into the room and said in a low voice, "Roger, I don't think that's appropriate conversation for today," she said, giving a side glance at Cady who continued to be absorbed in her coloring, apparently not hearing Roger's remark.

"No, I suppose not," he said, realizing his error.

Cynthia walked up and looked at the picture over Cady's shoulder, and quietly returned to the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hi Mr. P.," said the little blonde girl with bright blue eyes standing in the front doorway of the Parsons' house. It was 10:30 am on the day of Cady's birthday party, and Julia Martin was the first guest to arrive. She was Cady's precocious best friend and next door neighbor. She wore a fine-checkered tan and white shirt with blue jeans and white canvas shoes.

"Hi, Julia," Roger replied. "C'mon in," he said, motioning with one hand to the living room.

"Thanks Mr. P!" Julia replied.

"How's St. Vincent's?" Roger asked.

"Uh… don't know yet," she replied. "Where's C.J.?"

Roger turned toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "Cady, Julia is here!"

Cady came running at top speed out of her bedroom and into Julia's arms. They hugged each other hard enough to almost knock the both of them over.

"Why don't you two girls go outside to the backyard. More people should be here soon," Roger said.

"Okay, Mr. P," Julia said with her arm around Cady's shoulders. The two took his instruction and passed through the kitchen where Cynthia was.

"Hi Julia," Cynthia said.

"Hi Dr. P," Julia replied. "It sure smells good in here." Julia and Cady kept moving, not leaving Cynthia any time to respond.

Cynthia remarked to no one, "Thanks?" She smiled to herself, shook her head, and went back to work.

"That girl is 5 going on 25," Roger said after the girls were in the backyard.

"I think it's sweet," Cynthia replied.

"I didn't say it wasn't. I just worry for their teenage years," he replied.

"Fathers have to worry about daughters. It comes with the territory," Cynthia said. Roger started licking the icing spoon. Then there was another knock on the door. He put the spoon down.

"Wait a minute," Cynthia said to him and took a cloth to the corner of his mouth. "Okay, now you can answer the door," she said with a wink.

Once at the front door, he opened it. He announced loudly, "Hey Cindy, someone let out the grandparent convention. They're all here." Cynthia walked out to greet everyone, still wearing her apron. "Hi Mom and Dad….Peter and Joanne."

Peter Parsons, a distinguished man in his early sixties, wore a white tennis shirt with navy slacks and loafers and Roger's mother was dressed conservatively in a skirt and blouse, and more for a formal occasion than a child's birthday party. Deborah Glass, a formidable woman with a single grey streak in her mostly dark hair by her left temple, wore a cream-colored button-down shirt with dark brown, pleated slacks and casual brown shoes. Jacob Glass, wearing his signature round glasses, had salt-and-pepper hair with a bald spot in the back and wore brown corduroy slacks, black loafers, and a tan, plaid, short-sleeve, button-down shirt.

Joanne listlessly hugged Roger and pecked him on the cheek. "Hi son," she said. His father gave him a hearty handshake, followed by a gentle punch to the shoulder.

"Hi Mom….Dad. Glad you could make it. How was the drive from Dallas?" Roger asked.

"Not bad," Peter said. "We drove in yesterday and spent the night in a hotel."

"I wish I would have known. You could have spent the night here instead," Roger replied.

"We didn't want to bother you. We knew you'd be preparing for Cady's special day," Joanne replied.

"It would have been no trouble," Roger reassured.

"Where is my precious little m'al'k?" Jacob Glass asked.

Cynthia hugged her mother and then her father, and said, "She's out back with her friend, Julia."

Deborah Glass clapped her hands quietly, and said to Cynthia, "I can't wait to see her. I swear, every time we come here, she looks more and more like you."

"Some say so," Cynthia replied, and her mother pinched Cynthia's cheeks and gave her a hug.

Cynthia hugged her father. "Great to see you, Dad."

"You too, tochter," he replied, hugging her back.

The adults stood in the living room catching up, and there was another knock at the door. Cynthia answered it this time. When she opened the door, there were two boys, both with sandy hair, t-shirts, and corduroy pants. One rested his elbow on the shoulder of the other.

"Oh, hi boys. C'mon in," Cynthia said. She turned to the adults. She put one hand on one boy's head, "Everyone, this is Charlie DeWitt." She put her hand on the other boy's head. "And this is Steven Williams. They both live on our street." She continued and gestured to the corresponding adults in the room, "Boys, you know Mr. Parsons, of course. These are his parents Peter and Joanne, and these are my parents, Deborah and Jacob."

Deborah replied for everyone, "Nice to meet you boys." The boys looked wide-eyed at the assembly of adults and didn't respond.

"Boys, Cady and Julia are out back. Feel free to join them," Cynthia said, sensing their discomfort.

"Thanks, Dr. Parsons," Charlie said. And the boys headed out back through the kitchen. Less than a minute later, the excited screams of four five year-olds were heard through the walls of the house.

"The boys go to Cady's elementary school. Julia goes to St. Vincent de Paul Parish School," Cynthia remarked.

"Ah yes, a Catholic school," Jacob said. "She's bound to get an excellent education there."

"Probably Dad, but we're not going to send Cady to a religious school, so don't even get started," Cynthia replied.

"Okay, okay," Jacob relented quickly.

"I think that's your signal to get the presents out of the car, Jacob," Deborah said.

"That's a good idea," Jacob replied.

"I think I'll join you, Jacob," Peter offered. The two grandfathers left the house, leaving Cady's grandmothers, Roger, and Cynthia.

"So, Mom, what have you been doing lately?" Roger asked.

"Keeping the house clean, and some occasional reading. Not much to do since you kids left home," Joanne said with a sigh.

Roger rubbed his beard nervously. "I suppose we could visit more. Now that I have the private practice, I have some flexibility."

"That would be nice, son," Joanne said.

"Mom, what have you been up to?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, since it's not an election year for President, I've been working on some local issues and going down to the Rubinstein Community Center. I think I mentioned to you last time on the phone that I'm starting to play Bridge and I've convinced your father to join me," Deborah replied.

"I think I remember that. Are you getting any better?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes. I suppose. I'm too new at it to tell," Deborah replied. "Do you play Bridge, Joanne?"

"No," Joanne said. The other three waited briefly in awkward silence, but Joanne did not elaborate.

Jacob came to the door with presents in his hands and announced, "Look who we found…." He walked through the door followed by Peter, then Cynthia's brother Robert, his wife Janice, and Cady's cousin Dorothy who was about three months younger than Cady. Jacob and Peter placed the gifts on the coffee table.

Robert hugged Cynthia and said, "Hi Sis." Robert had dark hair and was as handsome as Cynthia was beautiful. His wife Janice had sandy hair that she wore in a French braid. Both were dressed in some of the latest casual fashions and their daughter Dorothy had dark brown hair in a ponytail and wore a light green dress with short sleeves.

Cynthia rubbed Robert's head playfully. "Hi Bob," she said. Cynthia hugged Janice and then scooped up Dorothy in her arms. "And how are you Dorothy?"

"Hi Aunt Cindy," Dorothy said.

"You're going to be five soon, yourself, aren't you Dorothy?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, how old are you now, then?" Cynthia quizzed her.

Dorothy held out her four fingers on her right hand and held the thumb down with her other hand, and said, "This many," and showed her gesture to all the adults present.

"That's very good, Dorothy," Cynthia said, and hugged her tight. She put her down. "Cady's out back with Julia and two of her other friends. Go ahead and join them," she said. Dorothy gave a big smile and ran out of the room to the back door.

"Look at the time," Roger said. "I better get going to pick up the pizza."

"Oh, you're right," Cynthia said, looking at the living room clock.

"I'll join you, if that's alright," Peter said.

"Sure, Dad. I'm going to need an extra pair of hands," Roger said. The two men left to pick up lunch for the party.

"C'mon and look at the cake," Cynthia said to the remaining adults. They all filed into the kitchen.

"That's the biggest German Chocolate Cake I've ever seen," Deborah remarked.

"I should say so," Joanne said with what seemed to be a mix of amazement and irritation. Cynthia ignored her tone.

"It looks great, Cynthia. A doctor and a baker….," Janice said.

"Well, one has to have range," Cynthia quipped.

Deborah squeezed her shoulder. "You made my favorite cake."

"That was Cady's idea," Cynthia replied. "Come to think of it, she hasn't greeted her guests yet. Let's all go outside."

The adults walked out into the backyard where Cady, Julia, Dorothy, and the boys were squealing with pleasure, and playing a game of tag.

"Cady!" Cynthia called. "Come greet your family!"

Cady stopped what she was doing, abruptly. "Mawmaw! Gramma! Poppa!" She ran to Deborah first, and then Joanne, both taking turns hugging her tightly. She hugged Jacob next and turned to hug her Aunt Janice, who also hugged her in return.

"Hi kiddo," her Uncle said and Cady hugged him.

"Where's Grampa?" Cady asked.

"He went to get pizza with your father," Cynthia replied.

All of the children, including Cady, screamed in unison, "Pizza!" The adults smiled at each other in reaction.

"I think I'll go inside and get all of the supplies for the place settings ready," Cynthia said.

"Do you need any help, Cynthia?" asked Deborah.

"No, Mom. Why don't you all stay out here and watch the kids and catch up."

"Okay, dear," Deborah said. "Joanne, why don't you and I sit over here with Jacob, and let Robert and Janice watch the kids. We've already done our fair share of that, right?" she said as she patted Joanne on the back. Cynthia left the adults and went into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, there was another knock at the door. Cynthia went to answer it. She opened it, and standing there was the neighborhood girl, Betty Lou Montgomery, clinging to her mother's leg.

"Hi Cynthia," Gladys Montgomery said. She bent down and tried to pry Betty Lou away from her. "Now, Betty Lou, let go of my leg." She looked up and laughed nervously at Cynthia. She reassured Betty Lou, "You're going to have fun."

Cynthia squatted down to be on Betty Lou's level and held out her hand. "We're going to have _LOTS_ of fun. There's going to be pizza, games, cake, and ice cream. Cady, Julia, Steven and Charlie are here. Would you like me to take you to see the others?"

Betty Lou nodded her head reticently and took Cynthia's hand. Gladys mouthed the word 'thanks' to Cynthia who nodded back at her.

"Well, I'll see you in a few hours," Gladys said, and closed the Parsons' door herself, on the way out.

"C'mon, Betty Lou," Cynthia said, and escorted her to the backyard. When she arrived, Robert had joined the kids in a game of Red Light/Green Light while Janice laughed uproariously. Jacob, Deborah, and Joanne were sitting at one of the picnic tables talking.

"Everyone, Betty Lou is here," Cynthia said, and Betty Lou immediately hid behind one of her legs. "It's okay, Betty Lou. Why don't you join the kids over there," she said, gesturing to the others.

Janice waved her over, "Yeah, Betty Lou, jump right in!" Betty Lou joined the kids and Robert in the game while Janice called out which light was "on."

The kids played for a while longer. Betty Lou kept being sent back to "Start" and Robert was being overly competitive so he could grab his wife at the end of the line. Most of the kids found his antics humorous, but Betty Lou cried, because she was losing.

Peter and Roger returned after a few more minutes and walked around the side of the house, each carrying a stack of boxed pizzas. Roger called out, "Hey everyone! The pizzas are here!"

The kids all stopped their game and jumped up and down clapping and screaming. "I'll go inside and bring out all of the place settings," Cynthia said, as Roger and Peter put the pizzas down on one of the picnic tables.

"I'll help you," Deborah said, leaving Jacob with Joanne. Cynthia and Deborah went inside, and while she was stacking plates and cups, and Deborah was getting the plastic cutlery ready, there was a knock at the door.

"Do you want me to get it, honey?" asked Deborah.

"No Mom. I'll get it. I'll be right back," Cynthia replied.

Cynthia opened the door and a dark-haired, casually dressed, Bill Houston stood there with his son, Mattlock. Mattlock had light brown hair and was wearing a brown t-shirt and jeans and a _Roy Rogers_ double holster, complete with cap guns.

"Hello, Cynthia," Bill said with his hand on one of Mattlock's shoulders. Mattlock stood there confidently with his hands on his hips.

"Hi, Bill. Hi, Mattlock. C'mon in," she replied. "Where'd you get those?" she asked, pointing at the guns.

Mattlock quickly withdrew both guns and aimed them at the ceiling and pulled both triggers, not realizing there was a cap in one of them. The gun fired a sharp pop, much to his and Bill's surprise. Deborah stuck her head out of the kitchen to see if all was alright.

"Oh, goodness!" Cynthia exclaimed with her hand on her chest.

Sounding cross, Bill said, "Son, give me that holster and guns. I told you about firing those inside. I'm going to put them in the car."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Mattlock said with a worried expression. Bill held out his hand to receive the holster and guns. Deborah went back into the kitchen.

Cynthia stood by silently while Mattlock unbuckled his holster with a big frown on his face.

"Now tell Dr. Parsons that you're sorry for startling her," Bill said.

"I'm sorry," Mattlock said, and he looked down at his feet.

"It's okay, Mattlock," Cynthia said. "Would you like to come meet the other children?"

Mattlock nodded 'yes' slowly. Bill said, "Go ahead, son. I'm going to take these out to the car now."

"Just walk around the house to the backyard when you're done, Bill," Cynthia said. Cynthia walked Mattlock to the kitchen where Deborah had finished getting everything ready.

"Mom, this is Mattlock Houston," Cynthia said.

Deborah bent over and shook his tiny hand. "Nice to meet you, Mattlock. Would you like to help us carry all of this out?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"Ma'am? So polite," an impressed Deborah said. She handed him a stack of paper plates.

"Mom, can you carry this pitcher of sweet tea and the utensils while I get the pitchers of _Kool-Aid_ for the kids?" Cynthia asked.

"Not a problem, dear," Deborah said. "Do you think you can carry these napkins too, Mattlock?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied and took the napkins.

All three of them walked outside where the kids were champing at the bit to eat. The three walked the place setting supplies to the same table with the pizza.

Cynthia announced, "Everyone, this is Mattlock Houston. Kids, sit down at that table. Go ahead, Mattlock," she said pushing him gently toward the others. All of the kids filed to the kid table.

"I'll fill all the cups with ice," Roger offered.

"I'll serve up the pizza," Jacob said.

"Okay, there's grape and orange _Kool-Aid_, kids. Who wants grape _Kool-Aid?_" Cynthia asked. Four hands went up. The other three were getting orange by default. Cynthia started pouring the drinks. Bill rounded the house to the backyard.

"Hi Bill," Roger said enthusiastically. "Everyone, this is Mattlock's father, Bill. Bill Houston." Bill waved to everyone.

"Welcome, Bill," Jacob said, while slicing the pizzas. "Come over and sit here with the big kids." Bill smiled and joined the adults.

Cynthia brought drinks to the kids' table. "Mattlock, this is the birthday girl, my daughter, Cady," she said, putting her hand on Cady's head. Mattlock smiled shyly at Cady, revealing the deep dimple in his left cheek. She cautiously smiled back.

Julia put her arm around Cady's shoulders. "You can call her C.J. That's what I call her. We're best friends," Julia enthused.

"Okay," Mattlock replied.

Julia continued, "And this is Charlie and Steven, and Betty Lou, and Dorothy. She's C.J.'s cousin."

"I'm Mattlock," he replied.

"I know, silly. We heard," Julia replied and giggled.

"Oh," he said and paused. "Well, you can call me Matt."

"Okay, Matt," Julia replied.

Once all the food and drinks were out, there was steady chatter among all in attendance. The children socialized along gendered lines. The adults could finally sit down and talk to each other – that is, until the games began.


	4. Chapter 4

"How's the practice going, Roger," Bill asked.

"It's going well, Bill. I can't tell you how nice it's been to be my own boss," Roger replied.

"Not everyone can do that, but I knew the minute I met you that you could handle it," Bill replied.

"Well, I've been able to do it with your help, of course." Roger continued and looked around the table, and said, "Bill's been sending clients my way. It's been very helpful in getting the practice off of the ground."

"Thank you Mr. Houston," Peter said. "Thank you for helping our son."

"Bill, please," Bill requested.

"Thank you, Bill," Peter reiterated and shook his hand.

"How did you two meet?" Joanne asked.

"Well, it's a bit of a tragic story, and not one suitable for a child's birthday party, but suffice it to say, I met Cynthia first at the hospital. She told me what her husband did for a living. I consulted him on a legal matter once, and was very impressed, and found him to be quite helpful and professional."

"That's our son," Peter beamed, and put his arms around Joanne, who remained characteristically stoic.

"Do you have any other children besides Mattlock?" Jacob asked.

"No. I'm afraid not. My wife had trouble having children and we didn't have him until late," Bill replied and took a bite of pizza.

"Where's your wife today?" asked Deborah.

"She passed away when Mattlock was 2 years old," Bill replied.

"I'm sorry, Bill," Deborah said.

"That's alright," he replied.

"So, it's just you and the boy, then?" Jacob asked.

"Yes and no. There are plenty of people around us at home. Mattlock has taken a shine to two of my ranch hands and the family cook," Bill replied.

"So, there's no _feminine_ influence?" asked Deborah.

"Well, I suppose if you count my friend Annie Hickok. She takes care of him sometimes and is at the house quite often, playing poker with me and some other friends," he replied.

"Deborah's got me learning Bridge," Jacob said.

"Definitely a fun game for couples. Annie and I play _Texas Hold'em_, mainly, but occasionally _Five Card Stud_. We play with some friends pretty regularly," Bill replied.

"I can't remember the last time I played poker," Peter said.

Joanne shot him a disapproving look. "_When_ did _you_ play poker?" she asked.

"I just said I didn't remember, dear," he replied. "It's been a long time."

Roger deflected. "Bill, I don't think you've ever told me if you have other family. Do you?"

"I have an older brother. He's nine years older than me, and left the house to join the Army in World War I when I was 8 years old," Bill replied.

"Did he survive the war?" Peter asked.

"Oh, yes. My brother's still around. You could say that he is very resourceful," Bill replied.

"Are you two close?" Deborah asked.

"He was my hero when I was a kid, but he was gone for most of my childhood, and really, most of my adulthood, so far. He became an Army officer and was abroad for most of that time. He was in World War II and was in Lisbon at the end of the war, helping to free refugees. He came back stateside in 1948 and lived in Virginia for a time, after retiring from military service."

"Sounds like a fictional character," Cynthia remarked.

"He's led a very interesting life. Much more interesting than mine. But then again, he was always understimulated by life in Texas."

"Where is he now?" Roger asked.

"For years, he kept talking about some 'Company'. In fact, he called it '_The_ Company.' He'd never tell me what that was all about. He got married to my sister-in-law, Florence Parker, in 1948, and she apparently convinced him to take a job closer to us at the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1950. It's a little closer to us, but still quite far away. At least Eisenhower's been creating this interstate system. That will make visits more convenient. In fact, they are all coming this Christmas for their first visit."

"All of them?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes. Roy, Flo, and their son Will – Mattlock's cousin. He's just a few months younger. I'm very excited for their visit. They're the only immediate family I have left," Bill replied.

"Well, feel free to consider yourself a part of this family," Roger replied.

"I'm touched, Roger. Thank you," Bill replied.

"What does your brother teach, Bill?" Peter asked.

"He teaches criminology. He's recently taken up writing – I think he's writing spy novels," Bill replied.

"That's enough about Bill's brother, everyone. Bill's the one at the party. Tell them what you do, Bill," Roger defended.

"It's simple – I'm in oil, petrochemicals, and ranching. Just your basic businessman," Bill said.

"Oh – I know who you are, now," Peter said. "You're the man who founded Houston Oil."

"Yes," Bill replied.

"I read about you in _Fortune_ magazine. You've done quite well for yourself," Peter said.

"True. But I don't think money makes the man," Bill replied.

"No – But it doesn't hurt," Jacob replied.

"I'd like to hear about what Cynthia's been doing," Bill said, changing the subject.

"Not much to tell. I've been making my usual rounds. We've been starting to see some early cases of flu. I've been reading about the Salk vaccine for Polio. They'll be starting human trials soon," she said.

"That would be something – to eradicate Polio. We live in amazing times," replied Bill.

"I'd still like to eventually start a private practice myself – mainly because I'd like to have more control over my schedule. I don't know how I'd do with the business aspect, though," Cynthia said.

"It would be challenging at first, but you'd ease into it, and I think you'd like it," Bill said.

"I keep telling her that," Roger said.

"Roger is right," Bill agreed.

"Okay, okay," Cynthia replied with a smile.

"Momma?" Cady had crept up to the adult table and leaned against Cynthia.

"Yes, Cady?" Cynthia replied.

"When are we going to start playing games?" Cady asked.

"When everybody's done eating, Cady," Cynthia replied and put her arms around Cady's shoulders and squeezed.

"We _are _done eating," Cady said.

"I mean the adults, too," Cynthia replied, looking askance at Cady.

"Okay," Cady said and walked back to the kids' table.

"I guess we better eat up. The natives are getting restless," Cynthia said to the adults.

"Where does Cady go to school?" Bill asked.

"Barrick Elementary," replied Cynthia.

"That's where Mattlock goes," Bill said.

"Oh? Who's his kindergarten teacher?" Cynthia asked.

"Miss Hotchkiss," Bill replied.

"Oh. Cady has Miss Weatherford," Cynthia replied.

"I wonder if they've seen each other at school," Bill said.

"Perhaps, but it is still pretty early in the year. They may not have crossed each other's paths yet," Cynthia replied.

The kids' table was laughing loudly and hysterically. Mattlock was pretending to punch Charlie and Steven, who pretended doing the same to him. The girls squealed. "We better get started on these games if we know what's good for us," Roger said to the adults.

Deborah stood up. "Why don't you kids supervise the younger kids while we grandparents clean up," she said. She took the lead. "Peter and Bill, would you mind bringing the presents out here while Joanne and Jacob and I clean up?"

"Not a problem. Come to think of it, I left Cady's present in my car. I'll get that and come in and help Peter," Bill said.

"Thanks Bill," Deborah replied. The three started to clean up while Roger opened a box of mason jars and a bag of clothespins.

"C'mon over here, kids," Roger announced.

Seven kids came running and circled around Roger. "Okay, kids. We're going to play a game called 'Clothespin Drop.' Here's what you do," he said, and then demonstrated.

The kids stood there silently for what seemed like a full minute. Cady blurted out, "Daddy, that's a boring game!" The rest of the kids murmured among each other.

"I told you, Roger," Cynthia said.

"Yeah, brother-in-law. That's a terrible game," Robert said. "Hey kids, how about _Pin-the-Tail-on-The Donkey_?" Robert asked.

"Yea!" the kids shouted in unison. Robert grabbed the picture of the donkey and pinned it to the Parsons' shed wall.

"C'mon, Janice. You and I can handle this," Robert said.

Roger stood holding some clothespins as the kids ran over to play the more exciting game. Cynthia put her hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, dear," she said, and the two sat down and watched Robert and Janice with the kids.

"Alright kids, since it's Cady's big day, she gets to go first," Robert announced. "C'mon over here, Cady," Robert said as he gestured to her. Janice blindfolded Cady. Robert spun her around a few times until she was slightly disoriented and pointed her toward the donkey picture. "Okay, Cady. Pin the tail on the donkey." Cady wavered and swayed and snaked her way to the picture. The children all laughed as they watched her. She laughed too. She confidently pinned her donkey tail to the shed wall, pinning only the far right edge of the poster. She whipped off her blindfold and laughed. The kids laughed with her.

"Cady! You almost missed the whole thing!" Robert said jokingly.

"I know, Uncle Robert," she said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, better luck next time," he said. Cady joined the other children.

"Who's next?" Janice asked.

Charlie raised his hand. "Me!" he exclaimed.

Robert tied the blindfold on him and spun him around. "Okay, Charlie. Give it your best shot," Robert said.

Charlie held out his donkey tail and walked forward and found the poster and pinned it to the shed, getting a little closer than Cady. "Oh, Cady, Charlie did better than you," Robert said, and Janice elbowed him.

"Uncle Robert!" Cady exclaimed with her hands on her hips again. "This is just 'pposed to be fun!"

Robert dangled the blindfold. "How about you Dorothy?" he asked his daughter.

She stepped forward and once blindfolded and spun around, she tentatively walked forward until she pinned her donkey tail to the poster, pinning it about an inch away from Charlie's.

After Bill and Peter had brought out all the gifts and placed them on one of the picnic tables, they sat down and watched the kids' game with Cynthia and Roger. Eventually, Deborah, Jacob, and Joanne came out after cleaning up, and joined them.

Steven finished taking his turn. "Okay. Who's it going to be? Betty Lou?" Robert asked. She nodded 'no' and turned away.

"I'll go!" Mattlock announced, and he bolted forward and fidgeted while Janice put on his blindfold. Robert spun him around and Mattlock laughed. "I'm dizzy!" he exclaimed and laughed some more. The other kids laughed with him. Robert let him go and he did no better than the others.

"Looks like Steven's gotten the closest," Robert announced. "Okay, Betty Lou, that leaves you. Do you want to give it a try?" She nodded 'no' again and started tearing up.

Janice approached Betty Lou and quietly asked, "What's the matter, dear?" She started crying harder. Janice escorted her over to Cynthia who walked both Betty Lou and Janice away from the rest of the kids and adults.

"What's wrong, Betty Lou?" Cynthia asked.

Betty Lou was crying hard enough to get out of breath. "I – just – wanna – go – home."

"Are you sure?" Janice asked.

Cady came over to see what was wrong with Betty Lou. She took Betty Lou's hand and tried to comfort her. "It's okay, Betty Lou," she said with a worried look on her face.

"Betty Lou wants to go home, Cady," Cynthia said.

"Please stay," Cady said, patting Betty Lou's hand.

"I – wanna – go – home," Betty Lou reiterated, slowing her breaths and not crying as hard.

"Are you sure?" Cady asked, cocking her head at Betty Lou.

"Yes," Betty Lou replied.

"Okay," Cady said.

"C'mon with me, Betty Lou. I'll give your mom a call," Cynthia said.

"I'll join you," Janice said.

The two women took Betty Lou inside the house and Cady rejoined the other kids, who were chattering amongst each other after Steven had won the game of _Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey._

"Alright, everyone… who's ready for some _Musical Chairs_?" Roger announced.

"Me!" they all shouted in unison, with Mattlock jumping up and down and waving his hands more than the others.

"Dad, can you help me get the lawn chairs out of the shed?" Roger asked.

"Sure, son," Peter said, and walked over to the shed with Roger.

They emerged with two chairs in Peter's hands and Roger carried three. They arranged two of the chairs back to back with the other three chairs. Roger ran into the house and quickly brought out a few 45 rpm records and his _Philco_ portable phonograph.

"Okay, kids. You know how this game works – walk around the chairs, and when the music stops, you grab a chair. The person who doesn't get a chair, is out," Roger explained.

The remaining kids took their places near the chairs. Roger put on the first record. The kids started moving around the chairs.

_Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung  
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung  
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung  
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung  
Bung, bung, bung, bung, bung_

_Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream  
(Bung, bung, bung, bung)  
Make him the cutest that…_

The music stopped, and Mattlock staked his claim swiftly and decisively ,and grabbed the arms of his lawn chair. Cady, Dorothy, and Julia grabbed theirs, and Charlie and Steven struggled over one until Charlie obtained the chair.

"Okay, Steven, you're out," Roger said, and rubbed him on the head. Steven walked away and sat in the grass nearby. Roger took a chair and folded it up and handed it to Peter

"Play a different song, Daddy!" Cady exclaimed. The rest of the children yelled, "Yea!"

"Okay," Roger said, and selected another record and started playing it.

_Tweedle dee dee, Tweedle dee dee_  
_Tweedle dee dee, Tweedle dee dee_

_Tweedle tweedle tweedle dee_  
_I'm as happy as can be._  
_Jimminy cricket, jimminy jack,_  
_You make my heart go clickety-clack._  
_Tweedle tweedle tweedle dee._

_Tweedle tweedle tweedle dot_  
_How you gonna keep that honey you got_  
_Hunkies hunkies fish that bite..._

The remaining five children scrambled to get their chairs. Dorothy grabbed hers. Julia and Cady grabbed theirs. Mattlock and Charlie fought over one until Mattlock prevailed. "I got it!" he proclaimed loudly. Julia, Dorothy, and Cady all looked at each other wide-eyed in reaction to his exuberance. Charlie walked over and sat on the ground next to Steven.

"Good job, Mattlock," Roger replied as he looked over at Bill with a smile.

Roger selected some new music and took away another chair. The kids took their positions.

_You made me cry_  
_when you said, "goodbye"_

_Ain't that a shame?_  
_my tears fell like rain._  
_Ain't that a shame?_  
_you're the one to blame._

_You broke my heart…_

The kids went round and round. By the time the song stopped, Dorothy was out. Roger took another chair away and handed it to Peter. He played part of another song, and Julia was out, leaving just Cady and Mattlock, and one chair.

"Okay, you two. It's down to you," Roger said. He put another record on the phonograph. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Daddy," Cady said with her hands on her hips, her feet shoulder-width apart, and looking at Mattlock with determination on her face.

"Okay, then," Roger said as he put the needle on the record.

_(Oh-oh-oh-oh)  
(Wah-ah-ah)  
(Oh-oh-oh-oh)_

_Earth angel__, earth angel  
Will you be mine  
My darling dear  
Love you all the time  
I'm just a fool  
A fool in love with you_

_Earth angel, earth angel  
The one I adore  
Love you forever and ever more  
I'm just a fool…_

The two walked slowly with the beat and kept their eyes on the chair. When the song stopped, the two struggled hard with each other to gain the right to the chair, so much so that they knocked it over on its side and Cady fell on top of Mattlock. Everyone present laughed and clapped. Cady immediately jumped up and brushed the dirt from her pink dress, and Mattlock had a look of surprise on his face mixed with fascination. He finally got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

"Well, that looks like a draw to me," Roger announced. Let's have another dance, Roger said, and he put on Bill Haley's _Rock Around the Clock_ and all the kids jumped up and down and tried to do some popular dance moves without much luck. Janice, who had just come back from the house, and Robert, joined in and turned out to be accomplished dancers. Mattlock jumped around like popcorn and bumped into the back of Cady at one point, and Cady retreated to dance with her cousin.


	5. Chapter 5

Cynthia watched Betty Lou color in one of Cady's coloring books while she waited with her for her mother to arrive. Gladys Montgomery pulled her car into the Parsons' driveway and Cynthia saw her from the living room window.

"Betty Lou, your mother is here," Cynthia said and walked to the door and opened it. Betty Lou jumped up and ran to the door.

"Thanks, Cynthia," Gladys said.

"You're welcome, Gladys," Cynthia said.

"Betty Lou, run out to the car and get inside," Gladys said, and Betty Lou ran to the car. Once Betty Lou was at an adequate distance, Gladys said, "I don't know what her problem is. She just can't handle social engagements. I keep pushing her to try, but it doesn't work. I hope she wasn't too disruptive."

"Not too bad. Don't worry about it," Cynthia said. "Maybe start her out with smaller gatherings and work your way up."

"I'll try that. Thanks," Gladys replied. "I better go."

"Okay. Good luck," Cynthia said. After Gladys pulled away, Cynthia returned to the party in the backyard.

"Honey, you missed a great game of musical chairs!" Roger exclaimed.

"Who won?" Cynthia asked.

"Well… no one. It was a draw. Mattlock and Cady," Roger replied.

"Darn," Cynthia replied. "Judging by the stains on Mattlock's blue jeans, I'd say it must have been quite the tussle."

"I think Mattlock was more surprised than anyone. Cady just brushed it off and went on," Roger replied.

"I wish I had seen it," Cynthia replied.

"Okay kids, who's ready for the _Tootsie Roll_ hunt?!" Roger exclaimed.

"Me!" the kids screamed in unison.

"Alright. There are _Tootsie Rolls_ all over this yard, front and back. Here are some bags to collect your _Tootsie Rolls_ in," he said, and handed them one by one to the six remaining children at the party.

"Now go!" Roger announced, and Mattlock was the first to charge off to look for the candy. The rest of the children soon followed. Cady hung back and observed the yard thoughtfully as if she was trying to deduce where the candy was hidden. The other children took their time and meandered through the yard while Mattlock seemed to be in a race, cutting a few of them off before they got to their candy, including Cady.

She walked up to Roger, "Daddy, why is Matt acting that way?"

Roger looked at Mattlock and watched him race around, and saw him dive under a bush. "Oh. He's just got a lot of energy, sweetie," Roger replied. "Lots of boys do."

She pouted a little and said, "Well, he's spoiling the fun."

"Everybody's different. Just keep an eye on what _you're_ doing and ignore him, okay?" Roger replied.

"Okay, Daddy," she said, disappointed, and walked back with the others to look for more _Tootsie Rolls_.

Bill walked over to Roger and sat next to him. "She's very cute," he said.

"Cady? She's wonderful. I can't imagine my life without her," Roger replied, observing Cady search for candy. "Having a daughter really fills my heart in a way that nothing ever has."

"She seems to be a joy," Bill replied.

"She is," Roger replied with a smile. "Your son's a bundle of energy, isn't he?"

"Oh, yes. That, he most definitely is," Bill replied with a sigh and a smile. "I have a hard time keeping up with him."

"I bet," Roger said, watching Mattlock run a circle around the shed.

Cynthia walked up to the two men and put her hand on Roger's shoulder. "Looks like someone has already had too much sugar. Maybe _Kool-Aid_ was a bad idea."

"And we're going to have cake and ice cream later," Roger said.

"No. He's always like this," Bill said with another sigh.

"Well, you certainly have your hands full," Cynthia replied and patted Bill on the back and walked back to the grandparents. On her way, Charlie and Steven criss-crossed in front of her in search of more candy. "Whoa! Watch out, boys," she said. She passed Cady and Julia.

"Look how many I found, Momma," Cady said.

Cynthia peered into the sack. "Wow. You've got a lot there, Cady," she said.

"Look in mine, Dr. P," Julia said showing Cynthia the inside of her sack.

Cynthia looked inside and said, "Well, you two are just cleaning up on this game." Both of the girls smiled and skipped off together.

"The kids are having a lot of fun with this game," Peter said as Cynthia approached. "I was worried it would go the way of the Clothespin Drop," he said with a smirk.

"Well, it's candy, after all," Cynthia quipped. She sat down with the grandparents at one of the picnic tables. They had all been discussing their hobbies and interests while watching the children play their game.

"We were just talking about that poor James Dean, honey," Deborah said.

"Roger told me this morning that he died. Such a talented young man," Cynthia replied.

"Yes. Very tragic. Just 24 years old," Jacob said, frowning and shaking his head.

"We saw his film East of Eden when it came out," Cynthia said.

"We did too," Peter said.

"I thought his performance was outstanding. I don't think I've ever seen acting like that. Roger thought so too, and he's much more of a film buff than I am," Cynthia said.

"I agree," Peter said.

"We were planning on seeing his latest film that was going to come out this month. What was its name?" Cynthia asked.

"_Rebel Without a Cause_," Peter said. "Joanne and I were going to go too."

"Roger had been reading something….I don't know what….Something about a third film he'd been making?" Cynthia wondered.

"Yes. I'd read that he will be playing a character based on Gil McIntyre. I wonder if Bill knows anything about that, being in the oil business," Peter said.

"You should ask him," Cynthia said and there was a pause in the conversation.

"That's really something about Juan Perón – ousted by the new military regime," Jacob said, changing the discussion to something more global in scope.

"He apparently had been living quite high on the hog," Peter replied.

"True, but he had been a friend to Israel and Argentinian Jews," Jacob said.

"Still, you're planting the seeds of revolution if the leader has such an opulent lifestyle while the people have very little," Peter replied.

"History _has _shown that a time or two…. You're right," Jacob said.

"I wonder how President Eisenhower is doing," Joanne interjected. "What was that he had on his vacation, Cynthia?"

"It was a coronary thrombosis," Cynthia replied.

"Throm – what?" Peter asked.

"A thrombosis is another word for clot. He basically had a heart attack," Cynthia replied.

"Well, why didn't you say that?" Peter laughed. "We don't speak medicalese."

"Sorry. Just a habit, I suppose," Cynthia replied.

Cady and Julia approached Cynthia. "When is it gonna be time to open presents, Momma?" Cady asked.

"Yeah, Dr. P.? When?" Julie echoed.

"I thought you all were having too much fun to want to open presents," Cynthia said, glancing over at the grandparents."

"No, Momma. How about now?" Cady asked.

"Okay. It looks like everyone's found all the candy that they're going to find," Cynthia said and stood up and put her hands on Cady's shoulders. "Alright, everyone….Time for Cady to open presents," she announced.

The boys, Julia, and Dorothy came running to the picnic table with the presents. Cady sat on the end of the picnic table bench with her legs dangling, and Deborah volunteered to hand her the presents. Joanne was charged with writing down who gave what gift. All of the children sat in a semi-circle on the ground in front of Cady and watched with excited expressions of anticipation. Deborah and Joanne sat at the table with Cady, while the rest of the adults stood nearby.

Deborah handed Cady the first gift and said, "This card says it's from Julia."

Cady ripped through the paper and revealed a box, which she opened, and found several coloring books, a brand new box of 30 Crayola Crayons, some markers, and colored pencils. "Thanks, Julia!" Cady exclaimed and Julia ran up and hugged her.

"Happy birthday, C.J.!" Julia replied.

"We'll have to color sometime today," Cady said with a big smile.

Deborah handed her a smaller box. "This card says it's from Steven." Cady removed the paper and opened the box and found a _Duncan Yo-Yo_ and a container of _Silly Putty._

"Thanks, Steven. How fun!" Cady said.

"Cool!" Mattlock interjected. Cady looked at him with a look of bafflement on her face.

"You're welcome, C.J.," Steven said.

Deborah handed her another box that was about the size of a book. "Looks like this one is from Charlie," she said. Once again, Cady opened the gift with fervor and found an _Etch-A-Sketch_.

"Oh, neat! I've been wanting one of these!" Cady exclaimed.

Charlie came up to her and said in his usual helpful manner, "Here, let me show you how it works." He demonstrated by turning the knobs, one at a time, making some simple geometric designs and shook it a few times to erase it. "See?"

"Thanks, Charlie," Cady said.

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, C.J.," he replied and sat back down.

"Here's one from your Poppa and me," Deborah said, and handed her a large, wrapped, cylindrical package. Cady shook it and it rattled.

"I wonder what this is," Cady mused aloud.

"Well, open it, eynikl," Jacob said. Cady ripped the paper off and revealed a large set of _Lincoln Logs._ "You can build all kinds of buildings, eynikl."

"Thanks Poppa," Cady said with a big smile.

"You're welcome," Jacob said, and put his arms around her shoulders and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Those are fun! I have those!" Mattlock exclaimed, and Bill shushed him. Cady just looked at the strange boy with more bafflement.

"Well, I think we should save the two big gifts for last. We still have a few before we get to those," Deborah said. "Here's one from your mother and father."

Cady took the shoebox-sized box and unwrapped it and revealed a stuffed, plush, _Lady_ dog from _Lady and the Tramp_. She pulled it out of the box and hugged it. "Oh, thank you, Momma and Daddy. I love it!" she said.

"Happy birthday, baby," Cynthia said.

"Yeah. Happy Birthday Cady Jo," Roger repeated with his arm around Cynthia. He turned to his father and said, "That was really a good film for the whole family."

"Really? I thought it was a film for children," Joanne replied.

Deborah ignored Joanne and grabbed a similarly-sized box as the last one and said, "This is from your mother and father too. If I had to guess, I'd bet it's related."

Cady beamed and ripped into the package. "It's _Tramp_!" she exclaimed.

"We had to get you the pair," Cynthia said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Thanks Momma and Daddy!" Cady exclaimed. She then motioned to Julia and Dorothy to come over, and handed Julia the _Lady _plush animal, and handed Dorothy _Tramp _so they could hold them while she opened the rest of the presents.

"Here's one from your Uncle Robert, Aunt Janice, and cousin Dorothy, Cady," Deborah said.

Cady took the box and unwrapped it and found a "Royal Tea Set" for girls' tea parties. The set was pink and edged in copper and served four.

"Thank you, Uncle Robert and Aunt Janice!" she exclaimed, and Dorothy ran up to hug her. "Thank you too, Dorothy." Cady hugged Dorothy back.

"Okay, Cady. Here's another present from Poppa and me," Deborah said.

Cady unwrapped and opened the box and found a couple of hand puppets - a cat and a dog. She put one on each hand and made the cat meow and then the dog bark. The children laughed. Mattlock fell backwards and laughed harder than all of the children. Cady kept alternating meowing and barking until the whole assembly was laughing. "Thanks Mawmaw and Poppa. I love them," Cady said.

"You're welcome, honey," Deborah said. "Okay – we've got a couple of smaller boxes from your mother and father and then you can open the big boxes." Deborah handed her the first box and Cady unwrapped the board game, _Chutes and Ladders_. Deborah handed her the other box, and Cady unwrapped another board game – _Go to the Head of the Class_.

"We figured you needed some more games," Cynthia said. "And we can play them together as a family."

"Thanks Momma and Daddy," she said, studying the front and back of both boxes. Julia came up to help inspect them.

"I have some board games, but I don't have these," Julia declared.

"We can play them together," Cady said with a smile.

"Okay, let's open the other boxes so we can get to some cake and ice cream," Deborah said. The children screamed at once, in response to the promise of birthday dessert. Both of the last two boxes sat on the ground instead of the picnic table. "Come over and open this one from your Gramma and Grampa Parsons," Deborah said.

Cady looked at it wide-eyed in reaction to its scale and began unwrapping the gift. She ripped a large strip of paper from the front of the box and saw that it was a miniature vanity set with a mirror mounting a table with drawers.

"Let me help you get it out of the box, Cady," Roger said, helping her finish removing the paper. Robert came over to help, and both men were able to get the vanity out of the packaging.

"Open the drawers," Joanne said.

Cady opened the drawers and found some toy make-up. "Make-up!" she exclaimed, and Dorothy and Julia squealed with glee and ran up to check out the gift. The boys stayed seated on the ground and rolled their eyes at each other. The adults chattered amongst themselves while the girls explored the vanity and struck poses in front of the mirror.

"What do you say to your Gramma and Grampa, Cady?" Roger said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Happy birthday, Cady," Joanne said.

"Enjoy yourself," Peter said.

"One more present, Cady. It's from Mr. Houston and Mattlock," Deborah said. Julia and Dorothy sat back down on the ground with the boys while Cady opened the last large gift. She ripped away the paper from the front of the box to reveal a plastic window through which she could see a giant, plush Teddy Bear.

"Wow!" she said as she opened the box. Roger came over again to help her pull out the giant animal.

"That's huge," Peter said.

Bill smiled and said, "Every little girl should have a big Teddy Bear."

"You can get _me_ one, Mr. Houston," Julia said with a big smile and staring at the big bear.

Bill laughed.

"I love it!" Cady said, hugging the bear hard.

"Don't forget to thank Mr. Houston and Mattlock," Roger said.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed.

"You're welcome, Cady," said Bill.

"Yeah. You're welcome, C.J.," Mattlock repeated, as Cady continued to hug the bear.

Deborah suddenly began directing people to various tasks. "Alright everyone….I want the children to pick up all the wrapping paper and put it in the big trash can by the tree." Joanne handed Deborah the list of names with corresponding gifts, and Deborah handed it to Cynthia. "All the men….I'd like you to take the presents to Cady's room." She continued, "Cynthia, Joanne, Janice, and I will get the cake and ice cream ready."

The men and the children performed their assigned tasks in a timely fashion and when they were done, they all sat down at the picnic tables to wait for the birthday treats. Mattlock came over to where the adult men sat and leaned against Bill.

"Did you see that first episode of that new show, _Gunsmoke_?" Bill asked, with his arm around Mattlock. "Mattlock and I really liked it, didn't we, son?"

"It was great!" Mattlock exclaimed.

"I saw it," Robert said. "I liked that _The Duke_ introduced it. That was a nice touch and quite the endorsement."

"What's a 'dorsement?" Mattlock asked Bill.

"Well, son, it's like a recommendation. _The Duke_ is the most famous actor in cowboy movies today and he recommended this new television show so that people who like _him_ will give the show a chance and watch it," Bill said.

It was clear that Bill lost Mattlock's attention about half-way through the explanation, but Mattlock said, "Oh. Okay," anyway and walked back to the other children. Bill shook his head.

"I watched the show too. I didn't know what to expect really, but it was rather odd that the person who is meant to be the protagonist got shot in the first episode. Also, Cynthia could also tell you that no one heals from a bullet wound in that amount of time, and she said that very thing when we watched it together that night," Roger said.

"It's called 'suspension of disbelief,' son," Peter said and patted him on the shoulder.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alright, everyone...Here comes the cake," Cynthia announced, walking it in her arms to the middle picnic table. The cake had five birthday candles in a circle in the center of the cake. Janice carried the forks and plates. Deborah brought out the pitchers of the remaining _Kool-Aid_, and Joanne brought the cups and sweet tea for the adults. "We'll have ice cream after Cady blows out the candles and after we eat cake," Cynthia said as she placed the large cake on the end of the picnic table. "Oh. I forgot the matches," she realized.

"I have some," Peter said, and produced a pack from his pants' pocket. Joanne shot him a look of surprise mixed with chagrin. All of those present had assembled around the table and Cady had taken her place by the cake while Peter lit each of the five candles. Fortunately, the wind was still and they stayed lit while everyone sang the Happy Birthday Song. The children yelled the tune more than sang it and the adults smiled at each other in reaction.

"Okay, Cady. Make a wish," Roger said, pointing the family camera at her.

She closed her eyes, scrunched her face, and blew as hard as she could, easily blowing out the five candles. She opened her eyes to everyone's applause and smiled the giant Parsons' smile, _knowing_ that she would get her wish.

"Let's have some cake!" Robert said, rubbing his hands together.

"Okay, everybody….Sit where you want, and we'll start serving up the cake," Cynthia said.

The grandmothers served up the _Kool-Aid_ and tea while Cynthia and Janice served up the cake. Finally, everyone had their dessert and they were talking amongst themselves at their tables.

"I can't wait to play with the tea set," Julia said to Cady.

"We can bring the cat and dog puppets to the tea party!" Cady joked.

Mattlock laughed. "That's funny!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Steven laughed. Charlie laughed with the other two boys. Steven continued, "The _Silly Putty_ is fun too. You can stick it to the comics in the newspaper and pull up the picture. Then you can stretch it and make funny pictures that way."

All of the children laughed at that, imagining and acting out the possibilities.

"This cake is good," Charlie said with his mouth full. "What kind is it?"

"It's German Chocolate Cake. It's my Mawmaw's favorite," Dorothy replied.

"Sergei's made this before at my house. It's my favorite too," Mattlock said.

"What do you like to play, Matt?" asked Cady.

"Oh. Cowboys and Indians….Cops and Robbers….Tag….Hide and Go Seek," he replied.

"Those are fun," Cady replied.

"I only get to play them at recess at school. That's where most of my friends are. My cousin is coming to visit me this Christmas. We are going to play and play and play and play," he said with a smile.

"Don't you have friends in your neighborhood?" Julia asked.

"No. Our house is too far from everyone. I have horses, and Bo and Lamar," he replied.

"Bo and Lamar?" Julia asked.

"They work for my Daddy. They take care of the horses and cows. They take me out riding," Mattlock replied.

"I've never ridden a horse," Cady replied. The other children confirmed that they had not ridden any horses either.

"It's a lot of fun. It's scary at first, 'cause they're so big, but fun, once you get used to it," Mattlock replied. "Maybe I can have a party sometime and invite you all out to ride horses. I'll ask my Daddy later."

"That would be neat," Julia said. The children continued to talk and eat their cake.

"So, Mom and Dad, what have you been doing for fun?" Roger asked his parents over at the adult table.

"We watch television and read when we're at home. When we go out, it's usually to hear the Dallas Symphony Orchestra perform. I also play golf. Sometimes we play Hearts with our friends from church - Mary and Phillip," Peter said.

"Hearts is a fun card game," Deborah said.

"We enjoy it," Joanne agreed.

"What have you two been doing lately?" Roger asked Robert and Janice.

"We have this teenage babysitter in our neighborhood and we pay her to watch Dorothy at least once a week so we can go out dancing," Robert said.

Roger turned to Cynthia, "When was the last time we went out dancing, Cindy?"

"I can't recall. With me working at the hospital and you starting your private practice, I think it's been a long time," Cynthia said.

"Remind me to remedy that," Roger said with a wink. "We should really get out more."

"Looks like you'll be playing some board games in the future," Janice said.

"We got Cady those games because we all were getting bored with _Candyland_," Cynthia said. "We try to have a family game night at least once a week, and we needed to mix it up."

"Honestly, now that Cady's in school, we spend a lot of time helping her with her homework – well, rather, giving her extra work to do," Roger said.

"Oh?" Jacob's curiosity was piqued.

"The homework she gets in kindergarten just isn't that challenging, so we're doing a little more at home to keep her ahead. She's been bored in school," Roger said.

"There's still time to put her in that Catholic school," Jacob said.

"Dad…," Cynthia said with a furrowed brow and with a chiding tone.

Jacob put up his hands in a 'stop' gesture and said 'Have it your way,' in Yiddish.

"Maybe Barrick has a more accelerated program for more gifted students," Bill suggested.

"I'll look into it. Thanks, Bill," Cynthia said. "How does Mattlock do in school?"

"Well, so far, he's really good at recess," Bill replied, and everyone laughed.

"But in all seriousness, he seems to have an aptitude for numbers. I wouldn't say he's all that interested in reading; though, I read to him every night. He's just a boy on the go, I'd say."

"That much is apparent," Robert said with a smile.

"At five, it's hard to know what he'll be interested in or grow up to be," Bill said.

"True," Cynthia said.

"Cady told me the other day that she wants to be a lawyer like me," Roger said with a smile.

"She did?" Cynthia seemed surprised.

"It's nothing personal, Cindy," Roger said with a wink. "She just observed that your work upsets you a lot. She seemed pretty set on being a lawyer."

"Oh," Cynthia said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Julia's going to be a lawyer too. They're joined at the hip."

"Who knows….She likely planted the idea in Cady's head," Roger said.

"I doubt that. You're the sun, moon, and stars to her," Cynthia said. "Kind of like you are to me," she said, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ewww, Sis," Robert said as he covered his face with one hand.

"Grow up, Robert. You and Janet have been fawning all over each other all day today," Cynthia said with a wink and light punch to his upper arm.

"She has a point, Robert," Janice said.

"Oh to be young, again," Deborah mused.

The children's table suddenly burst into a rendition of the _I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream_ song. "I guess we better start serving the ice cream," Roger said. "C'mon, Dad. How about you and I serve it up?"

"Sure," Peter said. Meanwhile, Deborah, Joanne, Janice, and Cynthia began removing plates and plastic tableware. Roger went inside the house and brought out a tub of chocolate ice cream, a package of ice cream cones, and an ice cream scoop in his back pocket.

"Alright everyone…line up and tell me how many scoops you want," Roger said. "Dad, I'll scoop, and then I'll need you to wrap them in a napkin and hand them out." Peter saluted his son.

By the time the ice cream was all served, Steven and Mattlock had two scoops and the other children just wanted one a piece. Most of the adults, except Robert and Janice, settled on one. Like the biggest child in the group, Robert was the only one who insisted on three. The adults sat back down at their table and ate their ice cream. After Roger returned the ice cream to the freezer, he joined them. The children stood and ate their ice cream in two groups on opposite ends of the shed – girls in one group, boys in the other. The girls were deep in conversation and the boys were taunting each other and laughing.

Mattlock tapped his ice cream cone to Steven's as if he was making a toast and Steven's ice cream fell out of the cone and onto the grass. "Hey! That was my ice cream!" Steven exclaimed. Mattlock look stunned but suppressed laughter. "Give me your ice cream," Steven demanded. The girls were too deep in conversation to notice the squabble.

"No," Mattlock said.

"Give it to me," Steven replied and lunged for it with one hand. Mattlock pulled it away from him and ran behind the shed. Steven chased after him. When Mattlock rounded the shed with Steven close behind, he ran right into Cady, ice cream first, and the ice cream splattered the front of her dress and ran down.

She looked at her dress, and then at Mattlock – staring him directly in the eyes. He froze where he was and looked at the mess he'd made. Steven backed up, observing the entire scene from a safer distance. The other girls looked at Mattlock the same way Cady did. Fury emerged in Cady's eyes and she balled up her fists with her arms at her side and elbows locked, until she threw a punch at Mattlock's stomach with her right hand and knocked him on his rear end.

Cynthia, who had noticed the children once Steven had started chasing Mattlock, saw the whole scene unfold. Unfortunately it unfolded so quickly that she was unable to stop the punch. "Cady!" Cady stood there scowling at the boy on the ground and ignored her mother's first call. "Cady Jo Parsons!" she repeated.

"What happened?" Robert asked, having not seen the event with the rest of the adults due to being completely absorbed in his ice cream.

"Cady just punched Mattlock," Cynthia said, and made a bee-line over to the children. She helped Mattlock up and wiped the seat of his jeans with her hand. "Go over and see your Dad," Cynthia said to him. He did so, but kept looking back at Cady on the way – stunned at what had happened. Cynthia picked up Cady and carried her into the house while the other children watched. Julia seemed to be the most visibly worried.

"What were you doing, son?" Bill asked. Mattlock explained the situation and that it had been an accident.

"Well, if you hadn't been running with ice cream, there wouldn't have been an accident," Bill said.

"But, Daddy, she punched me in the stomach," Mattlock said.

"How's your stomach, Mattlock?" Roger asked, as he put his hand on his shoulder.

He rubbed his stomach, and said with a pouting face, "Fine."

"Well, if you're fine and it was an accident, then I say we move on and try to learn from this event," Bill said. "What have you learned, Mattlock?"

He looked at his feet and said sheepishly, "Not to run with ice cream?"

"There you go," Bill said.

Then, Mattlock looked into Bill's eyes and exclaimed, "And C.J. punches like a boy!"

All of the adults laughed at once. "Well, let that be a lesson to you too, son," Bill said and patted him on the back.

Inside the house, Cynthia was giving Cady a talking-to. "Just what do you think you were doing, young lady?"

"Look at the dress Gramma got me, Momma. He ruined it," she said.

"That dress is not ruined. I can get the stain out," Cynthia replied. "Do we solve problems with hitting in this family?"

Cady looked down and quietly said, "No."

"I didn't hear you," Cynthia said.

Cady looked up and repeated herself.

"It was just an innocent accident on Mattlock's part," Cynthia replied.

"But…." Cady said before her mother cut her off.

"But – nothing," Cynthia said.

"Look, Cady….There may come a time when you'll have to punch a boy, but today wasn't that day. You overreacted. Obviously, you've inherited my temper," Cynthia said. "Anyway, get changed into something else and then you are going to apologize to Mattlock."

"Momma…." Cady pleaded.

"Cady, I'm not going to say it again," Cynthia said.

"Can I wear what I want?" Cady asked.

"I guess. The party's almost over," Cynthia replied. "Drop your dress down the laundry chute when you're done."

"Okay, Momma," Cady said and then she headed off to her bedroom to change. Cynthia waited for her in the kitchen, with her head resting on her hand, exhausted from the day. A few minutes later, Cady emerged in some jeans, saddle shoes, and a flannel button-down shirt with large black and red checks. She had rolled up the sleeves to her forearms and had a hairbrush in her hand. "Momma, can you give me a ponytail?" she asked.

"Okay," Cynthia said with a smile. "Turn around." She brushed her hair up into a ponytail, turned her back around, and adjusted her bangs. "Now remember, no more punching anyone today, okay," Cynthia said.

"Okay, Momma," Cady said.

"Let's go apologize to Mattlock now," Cynthia said. She stood up and guided Cady outside with her hand on her back to where Mattlock was standing next to Bill. Mattlock was wary of her as she approached, holding on to Bill's leg.

Cady put her hands in her pockets while everyone at the party stopped and listened to what she had to say. "I'm sorry for hitting you, Matt," she said.

"What do you say, son?" Bill said, nudging him toward Cady.

"I'm sorry for spilling ice cream on you," Mattlock said.

"That's okay. Momma said she can get it out," Cady replied.

"Alright, you two. Shake hands and let's wrap up this party. We've got one more party game," Cynthia said. Cady thrust out her hand, and Mattlock took it nervously, and shook. Cady stopped shaking his hand and ran to Julia and Dorothy who then murmured amongst each other and then giggled.

Steven asked, "What's the next game?"

Cynthia replied, "Apiñata." The children squealed with excitement and ran toward each other, jumping up and down, seemingly forgetting the event between Cady and Mattlock, including the two concerned. "Roger, would you mind hanging up the piñata and getting everything ready?"

"Wouldn't mind at all, dear," he said, and kissed her on the cheek and headed toward the garage. He came out with the piñata and a thick dowel rod. He hung the piñata from the lowest limb of their only red maple in the backyard. Even though it was the lowest limb, it was still over the children's heads by quite a bit, but in reach of the rod in any one of their hands.

"Who's first?" Roger asked.

Charlie replied enthusiastically, "Me!"

"Here's the blindfold," Robert said, handing Roger the item.

"Okay, Charlie. Remember that this works like the other game. I'm going to blindfold you and spin you a few times, but then I'm going to time you with my watch and give you 30 seconds to swing away at the piñata, okay?" Roger said.

"Okay, Mr. Parsons," Charlie replied. "I'm ready."

Roger blindfolded him and spun him a round a few times and said, "Okay, Charlie…have at it." Roger immediately stood back from the boy before he started swinging and looked at his watch. Charlie flailed in the air like a drowning man in water, but was unable to make contact with the piñata in the time allotted. "Time's up, Charlie," Roger said.

Charlie stopped swinging and lifted the blindfold. He looked at the piñata with a disappointed look on his face and handed the dowel to Roger's extended hand.

"Who's next?" Roger asked.

"I'll go," Julia said.

"Alright," Roger said, and tied the blindfold onto Julia and spun her around a few times. She had even poorer luck than Charlie and had wandered far away from the tree itself, swinging with utter futility. The children laughed hysterically. When her time was up, she took off her blindfold and laughed when she saw how far she was away from the tree. Everyone laughed with her.

"I'll go," Mattlock declared.

"Alright," Roger said and tied the blindfold on him and spun him around. Once he got swinging, he came close a couple of times and the group 'ooo-ed' and 'ahhh-ed' his near misses. Nevertheless, he was also not able to make contact with the piñata within the time limit. He handed the dowel rod back to Roger and sat down on the ground with Charlie and Julia.

Julia said to Mattlock, "You came so close."

"Who's next? Dorothy? Steven? Cady?" Roger asked.

"C'mon, Dorothy. Give it a shot," Robert said to his daughter.

Dorothy went over to Roger, who blindfolded her, and he spun her around like the others and let her go. Unfortunately, had she made contact with the piñata, she wasn't swinging hard enough to actually open the thing and release the candy. Her time was up like the others and she sat down with those who had gone before.

"Cady? Steven?" Roger asked, extending the dowel rod to each of them.

Cady stood up and took the dowel rod. She leaned on the rod while Roger blindfolded her. He spun her around, stopped, and started timing her when he said, "Go!"

Cady swung ferociously, and right before her time was up, she made contact with the piñata and ripped a large gash in the bottom of it and the candy rained down on her. She whipped off the blindfold and smiled. Julia ran to her and hugged her hard and all the children started collecting the candy in their hands.

Roger removed the piñata and shook it to ensure all the candy had fallen out. Janice came over with some leftover bags from the Tootsie Roll hunt and the children gladly took them and filled them up with goodies from the piñata. After they had collected all of the candy they could, they all sat down in a circle and ate some of their candy together and talked. The adults sat back down at a picnic table and recollected the day's events.


	7. Chapter 7

"What time is it, Dr. Parsons?" Steven asked with his hands clasped behind his back.

"It's 3:30," Cynthia said, looking at her watch.

"Charlie and I have to go home," Steven said.

"Okay. Do you need me to walk you to your houses?" Cynthia asked.

"Nope. We'll be fine," Steven said confidently.

"Okay, honey," Cynthia said. "Don't forget all your candy." She turned to Cady who was over talking to Julia and Dorothy. "Cady, Steven and Charlie are leaving. Come say goodbye."

Cady came over and hugged both of the boys. "Thank you for coming to my party," she said. "And thank you for the presents."

"You're welcome, C.J.," Steven said for the both of them.

"See you in school," Charlie said.

Cynthia escorted the two boys around the house and watched them walk down the street to their houses. She returned to the backyard. Julia passed her. "Excuse me, Dr. P.," Julia said. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, Julia," Cynthia said and continued to where the adults were sitting. Bill was talking to Roger. Janice and Robert, who had a very tired-looking Dorothy sitting between them, were talking to both sets of grandparents. She noticed that Mattlock and Cady were sitting next to each other in front of the shed door and talking, and tapped both Bill and Roger and discreetly pointed at the two children.

"I'm sorry I messed up your dress," Mattlock said.

"It's okay, I over'acted, and shouldn't have hit you," Cady said.

"That's okay," Mattlock replied. "Hey…. you hit hard."

"Sorry," she said.

"How did you learn to punch like that?" he asked.

With a bemused expression on her face, she said, "I don't know. Nowhere, I guess. I'm not 'pposed to hit people."

"Sometimes you have to. Where do you go to school?" he asked.

"Barrick Elementary," she replied.

"I go there!" he said enthusiastically. "My teacher is Miss Hotchkiss. Who's your teacher?"

"Miss Weatherford," she replied.

"Maybe I'll see you at recess," Mattlock said.

"I don't know. Maybe," Cady replied.

"Maybe we could play with the Lincoln Logs some time?" Mattlock persisted.

Julia ran up to them and interrupted. She asked, "Did I miss anything?"

"Matt goes to my school," Cady said.

"Neat!" Julia exclaimed. She joined in on their conversation, and over at the adult table, one set of grandparents, Robert and Janice were standing up.

"We better hit the road," Robert said to Roger and Cynthia as he picked up Dorothy and she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. "We've got one tired little girl, here."

"We're going to go back to the hotel too, son," Peter said.

"Are you sure?" Roger asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yes. We're both pretty tired," Peter said.

Roger turned to where Cady was. "Cady, come say goodbye to your family," he said. She got up off the ground and ran to her grandparents. She hugged Joanne who hugged her back. "I'm sorry about the dress you got me," Cady said.

"Oh honey, don't worry about it. Your mom will fix that," Joanne said. "It will be good as new, next time we come for a visit." Cady hugged her again. Then she hugged Peter. She walked over and tugged at Dorothy's foot while she was in her father's arms.

"Bye, Dorothy," Cady said.

"Love you, kiddo," Robert said while Dorothy yawned.

Janice hugged Cady and said, "See you soon, sweetie."

"You be sure to keep those boys in line," Robert said as he patted her on the head.

"Robert…." Cynthia chided, and Cady ran back to Julia and Mattlock by the shed.

"Guess that's my cue. See ya later, Sis," Robert said as he hugged Cynthia with his free arm. Janice hugged Cynthia as well.

"We'll get together soon," Cynthia said, and her brother and his family walked around the house to their car and left.

"I wish we could say we'll see you again soon, but we'll be going back to Dallas early tomorrow morning," Joanne said.

"We'll come up and see you next month. It's our turn," Roger said.

"That would be nice, son," Joanne replied with a sigh.

"Let's go, Joanne. I'm sure the kids are tired too," Peter said with his arm around his wife's shoulders. Peter and Joanne hugged both Cynthia and Roger and also disappeared to the front yard and left to go back to the hotel.

Bill walked up to Cynthia and Roger. "Thanks for inviting Mattlock and I to Cady's party. It was a lot of fun. Sorry about the incident with Mattlock," he said.

"You don't have to be sorry, Bill. Kids will be kids," Roger said reassuringly. "We're glad you could come and we got to know both of you better. Remember - don't be a stranger."

"I won't. Thanks for your kindness," Bill said and he turned to Mattlock. "Mattlock, we're going!" he called.

Over by the girls, next to the shed, Mattlock stood up and wiped the dirt from his backside. "I have to go. I'll look for you at school, C.J.," he said with a smile, revealing the deep dimple in his left cheek.

Looking bemused again, she said, "Okay." Thanks for coming to my party."

"It was fun! Happy birthday!" he called as he ran to his father. Julia and Cady just looked at each other after he left their company.

Bill and Mattlock left, and Deborah said, "Let me help you clean up inside, Cynthia."

"Okay, Mom," Cynthia replied.

"Why don't we all go inside?" Roger said. He turned to the girls and called, "Girls!" Julia and Cady turned to look at Roger. "Why don't you two go to Cady's room and play with her new toys," he said. The girls enthusiastically ran into the house and to Cady's bedroom.

Once inside, Deborah and Cynthia washed dishes and put away leftover cake and stacked the picnic supplies on the counter. Roger and Jacob sat at the kitchen table and talked.

"What about the streamers and balloons, outside?" Cynthia asked Roger.

"That can wait until tomorrow. I'll have Cady help me," he said.

"Okay," Cynthia replied.

"Cady's just like you when you were her age," Deborah observed.

"How so?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah. Do tell?" Roger said with a smile.

"She's deliberate and focused, but caring. She's got your temper, for sure – quick to ignite, slow to burn out," Deborah said.

"Did she inherit Cynthia's right upper-cut?" Roger joked and slapped Jacob, who couldn't help but smile.

"I don't recall Cynthia ever actually hitting anyone, do you, Jacob?" Deborah asked as she dried the cake pan.

"If I did, I wouldn't tell you now, dear," Jacob said, and winked at Roger.

"You're a big help, Jacob," Deborah said with feigned dismay.

"Roger, what was going on with your parents today?" Cynthia asked. Deborah turned to hear the answer as well.

"Dad's just not happy anymore. Well, neither of them are, really," Roger said. "He said, that since all of us kids left home, she's just gotten more bitter and controlling, when before, she was just melancholic," Roger said.

"That's too bad," Cynthia said.

"Maybe they need a mediator," Deborah said.

"I wouldn't volunteer for that job," Roger said.

"Maybe a minister or a doctor, or other objective third party," Deborah suggested.

"I'm sure they'll figure something out," Roger said.

"I wonder if your Mom would see a psychiatrist if I suggested one I know in Dallas," Cynthia said.

"Yeah. That would go over like a lead balloon," Roger said.

"It's just that she's had these problems for so long. There may be help out there for her," Cynthia replied.

Deborah put her arm around Cynthia. She said, "See – determined, focused, and caring." The two women finished cleaning up and joined the men at the table.

"So, Mom…You and Dad have been learning Bridge. How about a hand or two with Roger and I? Maybe you could teach us?" Cynthia said.

"I'm pretty new to the game, but I could try," Deborah said.

"How many decks of cards do we need?" Cynthia asked.

"Just one," Deborah replied. Cynthia got up and opened the drawer at the end of the counter and pulled out a deck and sat back down.

Deborah began to explain the game.

In Cady's room, she and Julia were coloring in her new coloring books on the floor surrounded by all of her new games and toys.

"What a fun day! I think it was the best party ever!" Julia exclaimed.

"It was good," Cady replied, continuing to color. "I think I'm sick from all the food and candy, though," she said, straightening up, and holding her stomach.

"Me too," Julia said, and she smiled and laughed as she mirrored Cady's actions. She changed the topic. "That Matt boy was different," she said.

"Yes he was," Cady replied.

"Kinda fun, don't you think?" Julia said.

"I don't know," Cady said, continuing to color.

"You sure popped him good," Julia said. "I thought you were going to be in big trouble."

"I don't think I am," Cady said.

"It was so funny when you punched him," Julia said. "Did you see his face?" Julia laughed at the thought of it.

"It was, kinda, wasn't it?" Cady said with a laugh.

"Remind me to not make you mad," Julia said with a big smile.

"Okay," Cady replied with a wry grin.

"Your dad picked some fun songs for Musical Chairs," Julia said. "My parents listen to boring music."

"Daddy's always a lot of fun," Cady said.

"That was kinda silly with the clothespins, though," Julia said.

Cady laughed.

Julia stopped coloring and asked Cady, "Who's your best friend in the whole world?"

Cady stopped coloring and sat up and said without delay, "You. Who's yours?"

Julia promptly replied with a deadpan voice and a smirk, "Betty Lou Montgomery." Cady waved her answer away in the air with her right hand and smiled. Julia continued, "I think we'll always be best friends."

Cady replied with a smile and halcyon tone, "Forever and ever." Then Julia waved her answer away in the air as Cady had done and they both giggled and resumed coloring.

The adults played cards until about 7 p.m. when the phone rang. Cynthia got up to answer it.

"Yes?" Cynthia said. …. "It was good." …. "Okay." …. "Right away."…. "Goodbye, Linda," Cynthia said, and hung up. She went into the living room and called for Julia.

Moments later, Julia and Cady appeared and Julia said, "Yes, Dr. P.?"

"Your Mom called. She wants you to come home," Cynthia said.

"Okay," she said with a frown. "Happy birthday, C.J.," she said and hugged Cady hard. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Cady said as she put her hands in her pockets.

Julia stuck her head into the kitchen and waved. "Goodbye Mr. P."

"Goodbye Julia," Roger said, glancing at Deborah and Jacob.

"Goodbye Julia," Deborah said.

"Bye!" she exclaimed and left through the front door.

"She's a bright little girl too," Deborah remarked.

"You have no idea," Roger replied.

Cynthia escorted Cady into the kitchen. "I hadn't realized the time until Linda called. I suppose we should call it a night. Cady needs a bath and to get to bed," Cynthia said.

"Okay, dear. I guess we'll get going. Come here, Cady," Deborah said and patted her lap. Cady immediately climbed into her lap and put her arms around her neck. "I hope you had a good birthday, Cady."

"I did, Mawmaw," Cady said. "Thank you for the present."

"You're welcome, sweetie," Deborah said and hugged her tightly.

Jacob reached over and pinched her on the cheek gently. He said, "You be good, little one."

She replied, "I will, Poppa."

"We're going to leave now, but we'll see you again very soon," Deborah said.

"Okay, Mawmaw. I love you," Cady said.

"We love you too, sweetie," Deborah said and hugged her one more time. Deborah put Cady down and stood up, and Jacob stood up as well.

"Love you too, Cynthia," Deborah said as she hugged her daughter.

"Love you too, Mom," Cynthia replied.

Jacob shook hands with Roger and then Deborah hugged him and said, "You take care, son."

"I will, Deborah," Roger replied.

After the goodbyes were said, the Parsons family was alone again after a very long and exhausting day. Roger flopped into his chair and stroking his hair back, said, "Whew! What a long day!"

"You're not kidding," Cynthia said, with her hand on Cady's head. "What did you think of your birthday party?"

"It was so much fun, Momma," she said.

"Are you happy with your gifts?" Roger asked.

"Very!" she exclaimed.

"Tell you what, young lady, I'm going to give you your bath, while your Daddy winds down, and when we're done, he's going to read to you and put you to bed, and then it will be my turn to wind down," Cynthia said. She turned to Roger, "Right, Daddy?"

"Sounds good to me," Roger said, putting his feet up, and shaking out the Saturday paper he had yet to finish reading.

Cynthia took Cady to give her a bath and about fifteen minutes later, came out to get Roger. Cady's in her bedroom, waiting for you.

"Already?" he said with a yawn.

"Your turn," she said unequivocally, and headed to the kitchen. She stopped and turned around, "Oh, and make sure you talk to her about what happened with Mattlock."

He sat up and went into Cady's room where she was holding her new Lady stuffed dog in bed. He pulled a chair up beside her and grabbed the book her mother had been reading with her. They took turns reading paragraphs and he helped her with the harder words. They read for about twenty minutes and he closed the book and put it on the table beside her bed.

"Did you have a good day today?" Roger asked.

"The best, Daddy," Cady replied.

"Your Momma told me to talk to you about what happened with Mattlock," he said.

"She already talked to me, Daddy," she replied.

"I know. I think she just wants me to remind you that we don't hit people," he said. "Well, most of the time."

"I know, Daddy," she said.

Roger clarified, "You can hit someone if they're trying to hurt you, though – to defend yourself. Problem is, today, Mattlock wasn't trying to hurt you. It was an accident," he said.

"I know, Daddy. I'm sorry," Cady said. "Why is Matt so weird?"

"I don't know if he's any weirder than any other kid. He's a boy with a lot of energy. I was probably like that at one time. He wasn't mean, was he?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"Well, then that's all that matters isn't it?" he said.

"I guess so," she replied.

"If he turns out to be half the man his father is, I'd say he'll make a good friend for you. Keep that in mind," he said.

"I will, Daddy," she said.

He stood up and tucked her in and made sure she had Lady in her arms. "You go to sleep now," he said, and kissed her on her forehead. He walked to her door and turned off the light and stood silhouetted by the hallway light and said, "Happy birthday, baby."

Cady replied, "Goodnight Daddy," and she yawned, and drifted off to sleep.


End file.
